Day#12 What on Earth am I Here For?
Day#12
Developing your friendship with God.
You are as close to God as you choose to be. Like any friendship, you must work at developing your friendship with God. It won't happen by accident!
CHOOSE TO BE HONEST with God!
God doesn't expect you to be perfect, but he does insist on complete honesty. None of God's friends in the Bible are perfect. Fortunately for us, because of God's grace, Jesus is still the friend of sinners (Matt 11:9)
In the Bible, the friends of God were honest about their feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and arguing with their Creator. God, however, didn't seem to be bothered by this; in fact, he encouraged it.
To be God's friend, you must be honest with him (he already knows whats in ur heart anyway).. but to get closer to him, u need to freely share your true feelings, not what you think you are to feel or say. You might need to confess some hidden anger and resentment "at God", for certain areas of your life where you have felt cheated or disappointed.
Until we are mature enough to understand that God uses EVERYTHING for GOOD in our lives, we harbor resentment toward God over appearance, background, unanswered prayers, past hurts, and other things we would change if we were God.
Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God; why would I want to be friends with God if he allowed this? The antidote, of course, is to realize that God always acts in your best interest, even when it is painful and don't understand it! Releasing your resentment and revealing your feelings is the first step to healing.
CHOOSE TO OBEY GOD!
Everytime you trust God's wisdom and do what he asks, even when you don't understand it, you deepen your friendship with God. Obedience is the condition of intimacy with God. He said,"If you are my friends, you will do what I command" (Jn 15:14). We obey God because we LOVE and TRUST him.
Unbelievers often think Christians obey out of obligation, guilt, fear or punishment, but the opposite is true. Because we have been forgiven and set free, we obey out of LOVE. And our obedience brings him great joy!
Jesus said, "I have loved you, even as the father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" (Jn15:9-11)
True friendship isn't passive; its acts. When Jesus asks us to love others, help the needy, share our resources, keep our lives clean, forgive others, and bring others to him, LOVE MOTIVATES US to obey immediately!
CHOOSE to do what GOD VALUES!
This is what friends do- they care about what is important to the other person. The more you become gods friend, the more you will care about the things he cares about.
What does God care about? The redemption of his people. He wants his lost children found. That's the whole reason Jesus came to earth. Friends of God tell their friends about God!
CHOOSE to DESIRE God's friendship above anything else! There is absolutely nothing more important than developing a friendship with God- It's a relationship that will last forever! Paul told Timothy, "some of these people have missed the most important thing in life- they don't know God!" (1tim6:21)
Have you been missing out on the most important thing in life? You can do something about it now. Remember its your choice. You are as close to God as you choose to be.
Created 3 months ago
